SOCOTEC welcomes summer interns to the Engineering Department

Four Year 10 and Year 12 students from London and Bicester joined SOCOTEC for a one-week work experience placement to learn about different engineering disciplines: fire engineering, façade engineering, and structural engineering. A SOCOTEC civil engineering technician apprentice also joined the students for the work experience placement to help understand the further education and career options for within the industry.

During the work experience, students received training on the Bluebeam software, while engaging in hands-on activities within each engineering discipline – learning about the various engineering subjects in a fun and engaging manner.

SOCOTEC’s aims through these placements are to support young students and to encourage girls to consider a career in engineering. Approximately 25% of SOCOTEC’s own Fire Engineering staff is made up of women at present, which is over double the national average of 11%, according to 2022 data from the Institute of Fire Engineers.

Additionally, five university students are currently completing six-week internships with SOCOTEC this summer. From the University of Liverpool, we have Billy Slaughter, a PhD Fire Safety Engineering candidate, while Alex Burroughs is a MEng Civil Engineering student, and Alistair Murtagh is a MEng Mechanical Engineering student.

Billy, Alex and Alistair are working closely with our fire engineers in London, furthering SOCOTEC’s relationship with the university.

At the Letterkenny site, Christoper McCarrick and Gavin McCarron, 3^rd year BEng Fire Engineering students from ATU Donegal, are completing similar work.

During their internships, the university students will experience working within a team of fire engineers – participating in meetings, working on real fire engineering projects, and developing new tools. The students are also taking part in SOCOTEC’s Graduate Training Programme for fire engineers.

Thank you to Tabea Uhr, Principal Fire Engineer at SOCOTEC UK & Ireland, for organising the internships.